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Author J.K. Rowling has made the announcement that she has begun writing the script for the third installment of the “Harry Potter” film spin-off series “Fantastic Beasts”.

In a posting on her official site, the author says she has just finished the fourth Galbraith novel titled “Lethal White” and is now “writing the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts 3. After that I’ll be writing another book for children”.

Not much else has been revealed about the third “Fantastic Beasts” film as yet beyond it being the middle chapter in an intended series of five films.

The news comes ahead of the release of the second film, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” later this year.

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Actor Johnny Depp has confirmed he will be reprising his role of the evil wizard Grindelwald in the upcoming third “Fantastic Beasts” film.

Depp first played the role in 2016’s “Harry Potter” spin-off film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” and has much more substantial screen time in next month’s follow-up “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”.

With author J.K. Rowling having planned five ‘Beasts’ films, it has been expected those involved will be in each one, but Depp’s involvement has been doubted due to various media reports. Speaking with Collider this week, Depp says:

“I loved it because that’s really an arena where you can fly around and try different things and approach a character with a lot more…um…to take someone who is teetering on being a fascist, yeah he’s a fascist, he’s one of those, but to play him as a sensitive, concerned yet manipulative and powerful wizard. The possibilities in that world are wide open, so you can really try anything. So it was a gas and I look forward to the next installment, which I think we start the middle of next year.”

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” hits cinemas on November 16th

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Warner Bros. Pictures is reportedly pushing back the production start of the third “Fantastic Beasts” film. Originally slated to go before the cameras in July, it now appears the shoot for the “Harry Potter” spin-off won’t begin until late Fall.

The delay is said to be due to the production team needing more pre-production time for the threequel. Actors are being alerted about the push in production in order to change their working schedules. David Yates is still set to direct the film which is likely to be shot at Leavesden studios in the UK.

While the film has been rumored for a late 2020 release, that wasn’t confirmed. The previous film, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” made around $650 million at the global box office when it was released last year, even as it managed the worst review aggregate score of any film in the ‘Potter’ franchise.

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Speaking with Hey U Guys this week, actor Dan Fogler revealed that the reasons he and the other cast were given for the delay turns out to be due to the sheer scale of the new production:

“Yeah, we start in the fall. The movie is going to be gigantic! The reason we were given is that the movie is bigger than the first two combined. They needed more time to prep and they didn’t want to rush anything so they pushed it back. I can tell you that we are going to Brazil. I don’t really know much…[laughs]. I’ll get a script closer to when we start shooting.”

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When J.K. Rowling speaks, Potter-fanatics listen and the celebrated “Harry Potter” author has touched upon one of the elements of the franchise that has become a key part of it after the main book series finished – that of the Dumbledore-Grindelwald dynamic.

Last year’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the second of the five prequel movies Rowling has planned for the series, introduced Jude Law’s younger Dumbledore to the series but also offered the hints at the at least partly romantic relationship the character once shared with the prequel series’ main villain Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). That back history plays a part in Dumbledore’s actions in the film.

As part of a new feature on the film this week, Rowling has offered some new comments to Radio Times which expands her thoughts on that relationship and potentially hint at how the future films will deal with it.

Previously, Rowling suggested the pair were in a relationship during their teenage years though the suggestion was the gay Dumbledore was infatuated with Grindelwald who exploited that desire for his own evil ends. Now though, Rowling suggests the pairing was more of a mutual one:

“Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship. But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows really what the other person is feeling. You can’t know, you can believe you know.

So I’m less interested in the sexual side – though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship – than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships.”

The film’s director David Yates adds: “This is a story about two men who loved each other, and ultimately have to fight each other. It’s a story for the 21st century.” As Rowling has been penning the scripts herself for the new films, it suggests the relationship and ultimate conflict will become a more central part of the narrative going forward – especially in relation to the events seen in the final moments of ‘Crimes’.

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Warner Bros. Pictures is currently in the midst of prepping the third “Fantastic Beasts” film which hails from “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and is set in the same universe.

Rowling has defended the choice to cast Johnny Depp as the villain Gellert Grindelwald since the beginning, even as calls for the actor’s removal have increased in size and the legal battle between him and ex-wife Amber Heard rages on.

Depp launched a $50 million defamation suit against Heard, alleging her abuse allegations against him were part of an elaborate hoax to advance her career. Heard has now responded with some graphic allegations against him including violent behavior against women.

The continued coverage of abuse allegations has reportedly left some Warners execs concerned, ones which have only been exacerbated by the departure of former CEO Kevin Tsujihara after a sexual misconduct casting couch scandal.

High-level female executives in particular are reportedly worried about working with Depp and the message that would send to the public, and they also aren’t allegedly happy with Rowling’s previous statement strongly supporting Depp as it has boxed them into a corner.

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Directed by David Yates. With Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Katherine Waterston. The third installment of the 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' series which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander.